Tag: superfood

Nutrient Dense Spicy Quinoa Recipe. Adopting a more plant based diet is a goal of many, but it can be tough to know where to start. Vegan food doesn’t have to be bland and tasteless. On the contrary, vegan food can be some of the most flavorful food you’ve ever tasted. By utilizing the intensity of herbs and spices, you can ramp up the satisfaction and flavor profile of any dish. This can especially be true in regards to preparing seeds and grains that are virtually tasteless by themselves.

Quinoa is different from grains like rice and oats in that it actually is categorized as a complete protein. It is one of the few plant foods that containing all nine essential amino acids. Although quinoa is commonly included in the same conversation as grains, it is botanically more like spinach. Actually it is the seed from a flowering plant.

This unique seed is typically prepared by boiling in combination with water, similar to the preparation commonly used to cook rice. Quinoa can be served a sweet or savory dish, and can serve as a snack, side or a foundation of a dish. Sweeter quinoa dishes can be made with ingredients like cinnamon and pure maple syrup, while savory dishes can be made with ingredients like black pepper and onions. You could even add quinoa into your morning bowl of oats for some added protein and diversity.

A Recipeby Jen Miller

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 20 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

3 cups quinoa (use white, red, black or tri-color)

4.5 cups water

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup hot sauce

3 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt to taste

Cracked black pepper to taste

1 Avocado

1/2 cup Shredded carrots

1 cup Broccoli

1 cup Mushroom

1 cup Cauliflower

Get Ingredients

Instructions

Boil the quinoa and wait till your quinoa has simmered for 15 minutes

Pour ¼ cup of your favorite hot sauce into the quinoa, along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir adequately until they are evenly coating the quinoa

Using a large measuring cup, scoop 3 cups of quinoa into a large saucepan. Make sure you’ve got plenty of room to combine all of your ingredients when you take the quinoa off the heat. Pour the 4.5 cups of water in with the quinoa. Turn your stove top on high heat. Cover your saucepan with a lid and bring the quinoa to a boil. When the quinoa comes to a roaring boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook with the lid on for 15 minutes.

Feel free to peak on your quinoa at the 10 minutes mark to see how much water it has absorbed. Ideally, at the 15 minutes mark, the quinoa will have absorbed all of the water and will appear light and fluffy (similar to rice). Adjust this time as necessary, as every stove top is slightly different.

STEP TWO – COMBINE WET INGREDIENTS

After your quinoa has simmered for approximately 15 minutes, take the lid off and stir with large cooking spatula or spoon. You want to add your wet ingredients to the quinoa first, while it’s hot. This will make it easier for them to combine thoroughly.

Pour ¼ cup of your favorite hot sauce into the quinoa, along with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir adequately until they are evenly coating the quinoa.

STEP THREE – ADD DRY INGREDIENTS

After the wet ingredients are combined, it’s time to add in the dry ingredients. Using your large spatula or kitchen spoon, stir in ½ cup of pumpkin seeds, liberal pinch of sea salt and a hefty sprinkling of pepper. Sea salt and pepper measurements are up to, add them in to taste. For a starting point, aim for a teaspoon of each and work up from there.

STEP FOUR – ADD IN OPTIONAL MIX-INS

A great way to add in some additional nutrition is to pick some favorite veggies and add them into the mix.

Some ingredients that work well in a quinoa bowl are avocado, shredded carrots, broccoli, mushroom and cauliflower.

More ideas on potential add ins include dried fruit, other seeds (sunflower, sesame, poppy), and nuts (macadamia, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts). If you do not care for hot sauce, you could opt for a marinara sauce to keep the flavor but omit the heat. Substituting in a pesto sauce is a practical swap as well (traditionally made with olive oil, garlic, basil and pine nuts).

STEP FIVE – PORTION OUT AND SERVE

After you’ve reached your desired flavor with your seasonings and toppings, it’s time to eat! Indulge in your nourishing serving of quinoa by spooning each serving into a dinner bowl. Add some fresh herbs like thyme or basil to the top of your bowl for a pop of freshness. Fresh citrus is another way to make your final product pop.

You’re likely to find that this dish has plenty of flavor as is, though! The simple combination of hot sauce, sea salt and pepper elevate the flavor of the quinoa and make for a filling, mouth-watering dish that your whole family and array of guests will love.

There is a multitude of variations on how you can prepare quinoa – this version just packs some added healthy fats and spicy flavor for additional satisfaction. To read more about the health benefits of adding healthy plant based fats into your dishes, check out this feature on 15 Health Benefits of Pumpkin.

Have you prepared quinoa before? If so, what is your favorite way to prepare it? Tell us in the comments below!

This vegan, gluten free, dairy free, filling dish lends itself to a lot of creativity and easy alterations. There are so many possibilities for additional ingredients or healthy swaps for you to cater this meal so that it adheres to your diet and doesn’t aggravate any food sensitivities/allergies. For example, olive oil can easily be replaced with coconut oil, grass fed butter, grape seed oil, macadamia nut oil, etc. Let your mind run wild and be creative with this meal.

Look to rely on this recipe for potlucks, nights entertaining a crowd at your house, family dinners and even on food-prep Sunday. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be tweaked and is not easily messed up. Don’t fret if your measurements are not spot on. You can always add more water or more quinoa during the cooking process if the texture is not ideal.

Why not Quinoa a Different Whole Grain !

Doesn’t the sound of mushroom risotto just pull you by the taste-buds? Creamy rice, earthy morsels of mushrooms, and often sweet peas buried in between. This luscious dish appears on so many restaurant menus as a standard option, perhaps due to its vegetarian-friendly disposition, and I’m tempted to make it on chillier nights when I feel like eating somewhat “light.” But it requires patience, attention, and some good stock to cook well, three things I don’t always have on weeknights.
Risotto doesn’t require, but is commonly drowned in butter or some other rich dairy products by chefs to avoid blandness. I’ve got a few different solutions for that, which has resulted in an entirely different, deconstructed dish from its inspiration.

Choose A Different Whole Grain:

Something you don’t eat often, so the novelty factor will add excitement. I went with quinoa, which is actually a seed, but cooks quickly to a nutty-tasting fluff. This was the most time-efficient option I could think of — save for couscous, which is not a grain but tiny semolina pasta. Quinoa is also exceptionally nutritious. If you’re up for a longer spell at the stove, here’s my recipe for “risotto” with spelt.

Build Flavor by Searing:

No sad, soggy bits of mushrooms this time around; I went for fat strips of portobello, which were lightly scored before searing on a pan. The scoring part just adds more edges to the surface that will become crisper. Giving mushrooms a good sear in any case brings out their rich flavor and adds textural contrast.

Try Crisp Shallots Instead of Softened Onions: Sweating chopped onions in butter or olive oil over low heat until translucent is one major time-suck in making risotto. It’s like a ritual that, once you get past this stage, the illusion of eating soon has been dashed. I’ve been there many times, resigned to my fate of standing over the stove for some time. But I’ve grown an appreciation for crisp, fresh tidbits that take no time to cook like shallots, which are milder and sweeter than large onions and a little of them goes a long way. This ingredient veers the final dish a little toward a quinoa salad or pilaf, as its flavor is not really integrated in the grains.

Heap on the Fresh Herbs Instead of Butter: Why stop at a sprinkle of parsley when you’ve gone and purchased a whole bunch, or have a plant bearing leaves ready to pluck? Pile on the green, flavor-enhancing goodness then, and mix it up with more types, like oregano, thyme, mint, sage, chives, or basil, like I’ve added here. (My spring herb pots are sitting pretty now; we’ll see how they hold up through the summer.)

Add A Squeeze of Lemon :

Okay, this might be officially a salad rather than anything close to a risotto, but a dash of fresh lemon juice really spruces up most anything. Especially meaty, browned mushrooms, which have no acidity of their own. Just another way to avoid barraging your dish with butter and build dimension. I just wish lemons weren’t so dang expensive on the East Coast.

In the end, we’ve come a long way from creamy-textured, pallid-colored risotto (and I do say that description in an endearing way). Instead, we have a warm quinoa dish with big chunks of mushroom and colorful contrasts, which took about ten minutes to make. We’ve also accomplished adding more protein (thanks to the quinoa, and plenty of peas) while making it not only vegetarian but vegan-friendly. This one certainly makes up for the Cinco de Mayo parties I attended over the weekend (did I mention parsley is very detoxifying, too?). Hope it’s a great fix for your time constraints and healthful aspirations in the kitchen, too.

Bring the water and ¼ teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the quinoa and stir. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover. Cook 6-8 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed. Stir and set aside.

Gently score a cross-hatch pattern onto one side of each mushroom slice. Heat the 2 Tb oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat until very hot. Place the mushrooms scored side-down in the oil and let cook for about 1 minute. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Peek underneath, and once the bottom sides of the mushrooms are golden-brown, flip to brown the opposite side, another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring another small pot of water to a boil and drop in the peas. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until peas are just floating and deeply green. Drain.

Toss the quinoa with about half the chopped shallots, peas and fresh herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in about half the lemon juice. Assemble the mushroom slices and remaining peas on top, and garnish with the remaining herbs, shallots, lemon juice, and optional drizzle of olive oil.

Health Factor

Two brownie points: Full of fiber, folate, iron and protein, Quinoa a Different Whole Grain. A great grain – er, seed – to get familiar with. It’s such an easy substitute for rice and other grains that take longer to cook. You’ll also get protein from the peas, and plenty of vitamins and minerals from the copious amount of fresh herbs. This is a spring power meal, with no cholesterol and low fats.

Suhoor in Ramadan

Suhoor is probably the most difficult and the most important meal of Ramadan. It’s not easy trying to eat a complete and healthy meal into your stomach at 3 am but it’s crucial for these extra long summer fasts. Get more bang for your buck and eat well rounded dishes that are high in fiber, complex carbohydrates, protein and balance it out with lots and lots of hydration. Suhoor should never be overlooked, make sure you give your body what it needs so you can make it through the day.

Our next Ladypreneur Ramadan Recipe submission comes from Sony Singh of Simply Sony Makeup, Hair & Henna. Although she is not fasting herself, she wanted to share a suhoor recipe that helps her get through those early mornings and extra long days.

The reason I love this recipe is it is full of good things! Quinoa is a super food which is amazing, chickpeas are a great source of protein and the fresh herbs and lemon are low fat but super filling and flavorful. With me being a makeup artist and getting up at crazy time in the night (2 am sometimes) I need something to eat before I leave to see clients that wont make me feel too weighed down but will keep me full for the crazy day ahead, as I don’t know when I will eat again for hours. It is so quick to make and can be made the night before.

QuinoaRamadan chickpea & Quinoa Salad

Suhoor

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1 cup dried quinoa, made according to instructions

a teaspoon jeera (cumin)

a teaspoon garlic powder

15 oz, 425 gram garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed

1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1 cup English cucumber, diced

2/3 cup red onion or shallots, diced

1 jar (7oz) kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half (drained)

1/4 cup loosly packed cilantro, chopped

salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

juice of 1 large lemon

feta cheese (optional)

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

arugula/spinach (optional)

Directions

In a medium size pot, cook quinoa in a small pot and keep aside

While quinoa is cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients.

In a pot add olive oil and toast jeera seeds until light brown.

Add the onion to sautee and add half of the tomatoes.

At this time add garlic powder so it won’t burn.

Cook for about 1 minute and add chick peas to the pot and mix well.

Once warm remove from heat and season with salt, fresh cracked pepper and the juice of your 1 large lemon.

Add olives, remaining tomatoes and cucumbers to the pot and mix.

Now add the cooked quinoa mixing well and drizzle with olive oil until coated. Taste to make sure seasoning is good and if you wish to add more lemon juice you can. Add feta cheese if you wish.

Serve on a bed of arugula/spinach or as is. Tastes great with little extra lemon juice on top. Add extra virgin olive oil if you wish. This dish can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Sony is a makeup artist in the GTA with a passion to serving her clients and help achieve their desired look. Simply Sony’s motto ‘ let me show you how beautiful you are’.

A New Way to eat superfood

This satisfying superfood is more versatile than you think ! Give your mac n’ cheese a makeover with this nutrient-packed, flavorful recipe that uses quinoa instead of pasta foSr a lighter, more nutritious dish.

Directions:

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa, and cook until it is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a mesh strainer, and rinse until cold; set aside. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stir in pignoli nuts, and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic softens, about 2 minutes. Stir in the quinoa and spinach; cook and stir until the mix is hot, and the spinach has wilted. Stir in the lemon juice, and the cheese. Meanwhile place tomatoes in a baking dish and place sliced top back on top of the tomato. Place in broiler for 5 minutes until softens slightly, but still remains intact. Take tomatoes out and place the quinoa mixture inside the tomato, like a bowl, and serve.

Rinse the quinoa and drain well.
Put the quinoa in a dry pan and set on fire.
Stirring leaves you dry quinoa.
When the quinoa as well as dry you pour a little olive oil and stir through.
Toast the quinoa in about 10 minutes until crisp and golden.
Stir occasionally intervening to make the quinoa cooks evenly and puffs and prevent burn in this way.
When you hear the quinoa literally puffing you know that the quinoa is ready.
Taste it first cautious one and if you quinoa crunchy and delicious than you spoon the quinoa on a plate and let cool.

Create a kaleidoscope of color and flavor with these rice paper rolls which are gluten free, low in fat and kilo-joules.

INGREDIENTS

100g (1/2 cup) MoroccoQuinoa®

225ml water

30g palm sugar, finely chopped

5 teaspoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon tamarind puree

1 small garlic clove, crushed

2 teaspoons lime juice

3/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated

400g beef rump steak

2 green shallots, thinly sliced

12 rice paper sheets, 22cm in diameter

1 long fresh red chilli, thinly sliced diagonally

12 large fresh mint leaves

150g bean sprouts

12 fresh coriander sprigs Select all ingredients

METHOD

Step 1

Place MoroccoQuinoa® and 185ml (3/4 cup) water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer. Simmer, stirring, for 10-12 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Cool slightly.

Step 2

For sauce, place sugar, fish sauce, tamarind, garlic and remaining water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Simmer for 2 minutes or until thickened slightly. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in juice and ginger. Cool.

Stir shallot and 3 tsp sauce into quinoa. Dip 1 rice paper sheet in cold water for 10 seconds or until starting to soften. Drain on a clean tea towel. Place on a work surface. Place 2 chilli slices and a mint leaf along centre. Top with a little quinoa mixture, bean sprouts, steak and coriander. Fold in ends. Roll up firmly to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining sheets. Serve with the remaining dipping sauce.

NUTRITION

1618 kj

ENERGY

8g

FAT TOTAL

2g

SATURATED FAT

3g

FIBRE

33g

PROTEIN

43g

CARBS (TOTAL)

All nutrition values are per serve

NOTES

For a tasty Asian dressing, combine a little of the leftover tamarind with lemon juice, fresh lemongrass, brown sugar and fish sauce.

Quinoa, the sacred “mother grain” of the ancient Inca civilisation suppressed by Spanish conquistadors, could become an increasingly important food source in the future thanks to genetic secrets revealed in a new study.

Scientists said they have mapped the genome of quinoa and identified a gene that could be manipulated to get rid of the grain’s natural bitter taste and pave the way for more widespread commercial use.

Quinoa already grows well in harsh conditions such as salty and low-quality soil, high elevations and cool temperatures, meaning it can flourish in locales where common cereal crops like wheat and rice may struggle. But the presence of toxic and bitter chemicals called saponins in its seeds has been one of the impediments to extensive cultivation.

Plant scientist Mark Tester of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia said the research pinpointed a gene that guides production of saponins in quinoa. This knowledge could enable breeding of quinoa without saponins, to make the seeds sweeter. Currently, quinoa grain must be processed through washing and drying after harvest to remove saponins.

“Quinoa is currently greatly under-utilised,” said Tester, who led the research published in the journal Nature. “It is highly nutritious, with a high protein content that, importantly, has a very good balance of amino acids, which is unusual for our major grains. It is gluten free and high in vitamins and minerals, too.”

Increased quinoa production could improve food security on a planet with unrelenting human population growth, Tester said. There are potential disadvantages to reducing saponins, perhaps increasing susceptibility to fungal infections or bird predation, Tester added.

Quinoa, which boasts a nutty flavour, can be used the same ways as rice and wheat. It can be cooked and served on its own, turned into pasta, put in soups, eaten as a cereal or fermented to ake beer or chicha, a beverage of the Andes. The crop was sacred to the ancient Incas, who called it “chisoya mama,” or the “mother grain.”

Cook ½ dry quinoa in 1 ½ cups of water until the quinoa is nice and fluffy about 15 minutes.
Combine the milk with the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes. Meanwhile sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and combine.
In the bowl with the milk add the maple syrup, vanilla and oil and stir well.
Add the quinoa to the dry ingredients and combine the liquids with the dry ingredients and mix.
Heat a pan with vegan butter or coconut oil and drop 3 tbsp worth of batter into the pan. Cook until bubbles form on the top and the sides turn brown, then flip and cook for another minute on medium heat.
Serve on a plate and drizzle with syrup if you like.